


The Stained Festival (Original)

by LordTomyh



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-09-28 17:07:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10140776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordTomyh/pseuds/LordTomyh
Summary: The Vytal Festival is in full swing, but a shadow looms over the celebrated event. Team RWBY still recover from Ruby's bloody return to life while JNPR still mourns the loss of one of their own. And in the shadows, malicious figures move up their plans. Can the future guardians of the world protect their city and their world, or will they crumble and fall before the darkness?





	1. ABRN vs APCS

“ _ Oh ho! It seems that we have another astonishing bout ahead of us! Wouldn't you agree, Professor? _ ”

“ _ Doctor. And yes Peter, I think it's safe to say this match may be the closest we've seen of the four-on-four round of the tournament! _ ”

“ _ For those of you just now joining us, welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament, broadcast live from the Amity Colosseum! _ ”

The air shook from the force and the ferocity of the cheer that ripped through the area, both felt and heard in the city and school below, and even in the wild forests; an explosion of voices calling out in support to their fighters or simply to hear themselves roar.

Sitting in their seats, not adding their voices to the thunderous din were Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna. Both were cheerless, their mouths set in frowns and their eyes staring at the arena below sad and longing.

Ruby, still recovering from her ordeal a month ago was dressed in a simple long sleeve shirt and skirt and her hands gloved. Watching the fight below she raised her hand to her face, feeling the skin under her left eye. The entire side of her face and head, from her hair to her neck was covered in ugly red burn scars, a small patch sitting under her right eye. Her left eye, once a brilliant, bright and innocent silver was now a eerie milky dead white, staring blankly at nothing.The doctors and the teachers at Beacon had brought her eye patches to hide the eye, as she could no longer see from it, but Ruby had refused them. This was what she looked like now, what she had to live with, let the world see.

Ruby sighed and dropped her hand, and winced in pain as it hit her thigh, getting Blake’s attention.

“You did it again?”

“Yeah,” Ruby said embarrassed, rubbing the sore spot with the arm that caused it. “I did it again.”

“You're still not used to it yet, are you?”

“No,” Ruby replied, holding up her left hand and taking off the glove. Blake watched as Ruby flexed and turned her cybernetic hand, a pain of guilt and sadness in the Faunus’s heart. Ruby had lost her entire right arm, right up to the shoulder, last month as part of a surgery to save her life. Another reminder of the ordeal they all went through, and another thing that Ruby would have to live with.

“You’ll, get use to it,” Blake said, her voice cracking. Ruby nodded dolefully, putting the glove on and looking back to the fight. Blake continued to watch the younger girl wistfully. She knew what the team leader wqsa going through, she could see it on her face everyday, hear her screaming and calling out at night as she suffered a nightmare. So much did the Faunus want to take away all the pain, all the suffering Ruby was carrying around. So much did she wish she could take away the memories of what happened, or even go back and stop it.

But she couldn’t. Ruby had to live with the memories, the pain and anguish, and Blake had to live with the fact that there was nothing she could do for her friend other than be there for her.

“Blake?”

Blake jumped; she had zoned out thinking, wishing, about Ruby. “Yeah, Ruby?”

“I wish we were out there,” the team leader said, gesturing to the arena. Blake looked down and felt another longing twist in her heart. She did also wish that team RWBY could have taken part in the tournament, shown what they were capable of.

“So do I Ruby.”

“ _ Ahh, and why would they? Now, let's get back to the match between Team APCS (Apocalypse) of Beacon, and Team ABRN (Auburn), of Haven. _ ”

* * *

 

Reese Chloris charged across the icy field on her hover board quickly, kicking up clouds of snow and ice behind her. In front of her, covered in dense swirling fog with only her head and shoulders showing stood her opponent, watching the ABRN skater approaching. With a flick of her head Setsu Todai-Brown whipped her black hair out of her hazel eyes, her long maroon ponytail swinging behind her.

Reese got in close, spinning once and throwing out her board. Setsu waited, moving her body slightly, the fog for a second billowing out before contracting again. Just before the board hit her she twisted her body out of the way, the piece of technology and plastic clipping a lock of hair as it went past. Turning her head Setsu looked at Reese as her arm appeared from the fog, wisps and small clouds falling from the limb. Slung under her arm, attached at the wrist and just before the elbow was a pale green boxy SMG, the trigger being a handle in Setsu’s hand, with a small needle-like blade extending from the underside of the barrel and a larger blade extending from the back, reaching all the way to Setsu’s shoulder. Attached to the bottom of the gun was a large green sickle, the point and inside curve facing up towards the barrel and Setsu’s hand.

Reese looked down the barrel of the gun aimed at her, blanched and took off running. Setsu jammed down on the trigger, fire erupting from her gun kicking up clouds and shards of ice and snow in Reese’s wake.

The clip ran dry, the gun clicking before Setsu dropped her arm back into the fog cloud.

She blinked, her hazel eyes losing their glow. Slowly the fog hiding her from full began to thin, holes forming in the shifting grey surface revealing clothes of dark and laurel greens. She stood at 5’7 lithe and narrow in the body, with the only skin showing being her hands and around her eyes; the rest of her pale face was hidden beneath her fringe and a laurel-green and black skull mask. Dressed in a ragged and worn gentleman’s coat in shades of light and dark green over a pair of black leather pants and a pair of knee-high dark-and-light green boots, one would think her for a masked pirate. A large black belt circled her waist, held in place by a green skull clasp and with several clips of SMG ammo hanging and swinging with her movements, giving the girl-in-green a continuous rattle.

" _ Oh ho. It seems miss Todai-Brown is stepping out of her shadows for the first time since the battle began _ .”

A roar of cheers went up from the crowd, some chanting her name or screaming ‘the Green Lady of Death’.  Setsu raised a hand lazily and scratched her head with the sharp end of her sickle blade, watching Reese skid to a stop and start running towards her. The skater girl of ABRN smirked as she got closer, twisting her body and pulling back her arm ready to sock Setsu in the face.

Setsu waited, watching till the last possible second before standing back avoiding the punch and letting Reese run past her.

Reese didn’t stop moving. Running over she grabbed her board and snapped it in half, turning back to Setsu with the halves, now formed into pistols and opening fire on the girl-in-green. Setsu stepped to the left, spinning once as she went and raised her weapon, the one still loaded, and returned fire.

Her bullets bounced uselessly off of Reese’s reformed board till the gun clicked twice, out of ammo. Behind her shield Reese smirked and threw down her board, jumping at top and charging Setsu.

Setsu looked to both her weapons, out of ammo with no time to reload, and took a step back, facing her whole body at her opponent. Reese smirked again, drawing close. Setsu raised her hands, pointed her weapons and let go off the triggers. From her open hands erupted twin jets of thick rolling fog that blanketed Reese. The skater girl cursed and began batting at the fog in her face, veering off to the left and missing Setsu.

“What _ a wonderful semblance she possesses. The ability to generate a fog of varying size, but the same thick consistency that renders anyone caught in it blind. Truly an excellent way to control any match _ .” _   
_ The fog stopped and Setsu spun, grabbing a clip from her belt and loading it into her right gun. A few wisps of cloud trailed behind Reese as she made a wide turn, slowing to a halt, a determined look on her face. Setsu raised an eyebrow in challenge and held up her empty weapon, her other hand reaching for another clip. From the bottom of her jacket and her shoe fog began to billow out, growing thicker and thicker as it covered Setsu, but not spreading out to cover the field.   
" __ While miss Todai-Brown cannot control the direction of spread of her fog, she can make it cling to her body regardless of the size of the cloud, effectively cloaking herself at all times. "   
Reese looked at the big screen; she knew that the announcers were teachers at Beacon, but did they have to talk so much about their students so much?

Shaking her head she looked back to Setsu, now completely covered in fog, and jumped off her board, the high-tech vehicle jumping up into her hand. Pressing a button the board separated, half launching itself through the air to her other hand, both pieces shifting into pistol form. Reese smirked and trained her weapons on the cloud of fog, opening fire. Bolts of green Dust plasma bounced off steel, Setsu having raised her arm and weapon to cover her face and body. Her other arm she raised, pointing at Reese, and the fog erupted outwards, consuming the girl in green and almost Reese if she didn’t jump backwards. Bullets erupted around the fog, hitting the ice around the skater girl kicking up puffs of snow. Reese continued to fire in short bursts into the fog, the green balls of plasma burning holes into the fog, only for the holes to close shut as soon as they open.

The bullets coming from the fog suddenly stopped, the cloud falling silent. Reese stopped firing, waiting to see if and how her opponent would act. Nothing happened, the fog remained silent, the only movement the slowly swirling of the cloud.

Reese took a step towards the cloud and stopped, waiting. Again nothing happened.

She took another step, stopped and waited. Again, nothing.

Slowly Reese approached the fog, weapons raised ready to be used, until she stood right at the edge of the cloud. She inched one pistol closer, finger easing on the trigger.

Setsu’s arm shot out of the fog, grabbing Reese by the shirt and pulling her into the consuming cloud, the skater girls pistols firing in shock.

“ _ Ooooh, miss Chloris fell for miss Todai-Brown’s trap and  has been lost in the fog. _ ”

“ _ Do we have any thermal cameras? No? Well that is an unfortunate sufferance. The continuation of an exceptional fight between these two Huntresses-in-Training and we cannot even witness it. Perhaps a note for the next festival Peter? _ ”

“ _ Indeed Bart. And it seems that team APCS won the pot of gold when it comes to their semblances, wouldn’t you agree? _ ”

“ _ Quite. The three known semblances of the team allow them to easily dominate any fight they take part, and make it difficult for their enemies. _ ”

“ _ Quite so. Let’s take a look at team Leader Alexander Patrick-Brown, and his rather unique semblance. _ ”

Arslan spun around an outcrop of red crystals, her rope dart retracting inside her one sleeve. A gun went off, pellets chipping the crystals as a double-edged sword came over her left shoulder, just missing her platinum hair. Arslan kicked at the crystals, the outcrop shattering, and turned around throwing a punch. Fist met dust-hardened steel, the impact blowing away the crystal shards in the air. Her opponent having blocked the fist with a red revolver shotgun.

Behind the gun Alexander grinned. He was tall at 6’1 and athletically built with tanned skin and short spiky maroon hair with a widow's peak; his left eye was hazel in colour while his right was dead milky white. He wore a maroon leather jacket with an attached leather square shoulder guard on the right, an orange bandana, simple grey shirt and black leather pants, plate boots and greaves, and a pair of orange vambraces and a gauntlet on his right hand. Two belts crossed his chest, one black and one orange holding the leather shoulder pad in place.

Alexander held out his other weapon, another revolver-shotgun with a double-edged sword as long as the gun extending from under the barrel. Alexander pressed a button on the handle of the second gun. With a hydraulic hiss the blade retracted into the body of the gun, coming to rest as a bladed underside and hiding the majority of the blade.

Alexander pushed Arslan back and aimed both of his guns at her and fired. The gun in his left hand kicked, the recoil pushing it up towards the sky as he fired his second gun, bring the first back down as the second rose, and repeated the cycle. The buckshot bounced harmlessly off of the platinum-haired fighter and pushed her backwards, scrapping shallow trenches in the dried-lava rock. Narrowing her eyes Arslan charged Alexander, throwing several punches and swings at him, and even throwing out her rope dart to try and trip him up.

But every blow was met or deflected, the rope dart kicked aside or simply avoided. Alexander with a smirk on his face counted everything Arslan threw at him, either blocking or deflecting with his weapons or not being in the way.

The way he fought, the way he moved, every action he made perfectly defeated all of Arslan’s attacks, never letting a blow land on him, while dishing out his own attacks that did land and hit. It was as if he knew how she would move, where she would attack or throw her weapon. It was as if Alexander knew Arslan’s next move before even she did.

The two combatants jumped apart and began to circle. Arslan had her face neutrally calm, one eyebrow raised in question and in interest. Alexander, still with his smile, let out a breath through and tucked one gun under his arm to reload the other.

“ _ I don’t think miss Atlan is use to such a solid defence, not even being able to land a single hit. _ ”

“ _ Indeed a frustrating pickle for one so skilled. But this is the challenge presented when facing the Warlord of APCS, a nickname he asked us to use. _ ”

Alexander finished reloading both of his guns and raised one to rest on his shoulder, the other keeping by his side. The two stopped circling, Arslan widened her stance, keeping her arms loosely at her sides. Alexander’s smile widened for the briefest of seconds and bowed his head respectfully, holding the gesture for a few seconds before raising again and charging, guns whipping up and firing.

Arslan charged in kind, covering her face with her arms tanking the buckshot closing the distance quickly. Stepping up to each other Arslan knocked Alexander’s guns aside and struck out at his chest, aiming for his solar plexus.

This time Alexander took the hit, the blow impacting on his shoulder. Ignoring the pain Alexander extended his swords and swung, one at Arslan's head and the other at her legs. The blades hit, Arslan unable to block, but hit her aura, draining her aura dangerously low. With a growl Arslan looked at Alexander glowering; she decided she did not like this man. Grabbing onto one of the blades as Alexander withdrew she punched the blade, the entire weapon flying to the right out of his grasp and somewhere into the arena.

_ CLICK _ .

Cold metal pressed against Arslan’s forehead, drawing her attention. Behind his gun Alexander smirked, he had her. There was no way he could miss, and at this range he could knock her out, or at the very least drop her aura and put her out of the match. Arslan knew that, knew she was trapped.

“You can’t win with me, sorry,” Alexander said in a raucous voice, the trigger of his gun creaking in anticipation as he pulled down slightly on the trigger.

“ _ Oh no, it seems that miss Atlan is really in a jam now. Thanks to his unique semblance mr Patrick-Brown has her completely at his mercy. _ ”

“ _ For those that could not see any signs of mr Patrick-Brown’s semblance let us explain it to you. Mr Patrick-Brown’s semblance is classed in the clairvoyant or precognitive class, or the ability to see into the future and react accordingly.” _

Arslan went wide-eyed. ‘ _ That _ was his semblance?’ That such an ability existed was simply amazing; to fight it however was an absolute bitch.

“ _ Now before you go asking for tomorrow's lottery numbers take note that mr Patrick-Brown’s semblance is not true clairvoyance. His records put his limit of sight at five seconds into the future, and only applies to the art of combat. _ ”

“ _ What this means is that in a fight or scuffle, mr Patrick Brown can see the movements and attacks of any opponent before him, and react offensively or defensively, allowing him to know an opponent's next move before even they do. _ ”

“ _ Mr Patrick-Brown’s semblance does however have two key weaknesses. One is that it does not improve upon any of his other senses. _ ”

Behind his gun Alexander smiled, easing down on the trigger. With the force of a kicking horse something hit the APCS leader in the side, knocking him away to the ice biome, his gun going off and a shrill buzzer filling the air. Arslan, sighing in relief looked up at the scoreboard and saw a big red X flashing on Alexander’s picture, his aura dropping below the limit.

“ _ Meaning it does not give him eyes in the back or sides of his head. And it consumes aura at an exceptional rate. And unlike his sister who is better-trained in aura control, mr Patrick-Brown doesn’t save anything in reserve, handling a fight with a headstrong and end quickly mentality. _ ”

“Hmmm,” Arslan smirked as she rose to her feet, looking to her left. Her teammate Bolin, his weapon resting behind him, nodded to the platinum fighter with a faint smile.

“I’ve got your back.”

“So who's got mine?” a voice questioned behind the two. Bolin and Arslan spun around, the staff-wielder spinning his weapon around to his front, the fighter holding out her arms ready to strike. In front of them stood a fair skinned horse Faunus, an uneven smile on his face and a pickaxe slung over his shoulder. Standing around 6’3 he was lean and muscular with a silver-grey mohawk with the bottom tied up in a long ponytail, clear mirthful dark-grey eyes and a black symbol tattooed on the left side of his shaven head. He wore a baggy black jacket with no sleeves, a grey tank top and shorts, with a folded over cuff of a gentleman's jacket on his right wrist. He wore no shoes as his feet ended in smooth black hoofs, his legs bent backwards just below the knee with a second joint.

His weapon was two-thirds his height with the bladed head wider than his shoulders. The body of the weapon was divided in two sections with the appearance of a shotgun that had folded out into a staff. The top half was bulky with the main body of the gun, the pump and the bullet chamber, while the lower half was slimmer with the trigger and the stock. A thin grey handle connected the two sections, a part of the two half sitting as a handguard, with another thin grey handle besides the gun trigger. The head of the weapon was a curved black bar holding the knife-like blades, three rectangular holes sitting in the black blade back. On the bottom of the weapon sat a bladed triangle with the centre left hollow.

Arslan and Bolin lowered the stance and looked from the man to each other then back, charging forward. The man didn’t move to defend himself or attack, his hand holding his weapon didn’t even twitch. Instead the man looked up nothing, a look of realization dawning on his face.

“Oh yeah. Her.”

The man stepped to the side, just an inch, as an arrow with a glowing orange head flew past his ear and hit Arlan dead in the chest. The arrowhead exploded, knocking the platinum-haired fighter flying into the ice field out of sight as the elimination buzzer sounded above; the sound of a thud came from where she had landed, along with an ‘oof’ in Alexander's voice.

Bolin skidded to a stop and looked to where his team leader had just been, then looked to the man. With a cheeky grin the Faunus pointed behind him at one of the larger rocks and bolin looked up.

Frozen in a block of ice, only his head free, was Nadir, pouting and looking up at the woman standing on the block, a longbow in hand aimed right at Bolin.

Bolin’s jaw dropped in disbelief at Nadir’s condition; how the hell had the idiot gotten himself frozen in a block of ice? The staff-user looked up at the scoreboard. Nadir still had plenty of aura left, which was good; The idiot was just trapped.

“She’s good ain’t she?”

Bolin turned back to the Faunus, but kept an eye on the archer on the rock. With a smirk the Faunus moved his pickaxe to his side and turned to look up to his teammate, screaming “MY BFF!”

“Shut the hell up Cid!” the woman, the emerald-eyed Pacifica Yale, yelled as she stepped off of the block of ice, and kicked it down the side of the rock, Nadir screaming as it went. Cid turned around, his back to the incoming threat and shrugged. Bolin looked between the three, Pacifica, the block of ice, and Cid, not sure which one he to watch for fear of being hit by one of the other two.

The block of ice hit the bottom of the rock and closed in on Cid and Bolin, Nadir’s screams getting louder. Bolin tensed up, ready to jump out of the way. Cid on the other hand closed his eyes and pointed at the sky.

“Commentators please,” he said, the jumped up and spun, swinging his pickaxe at the ice block as it rolled over where he had been, shattering it and freeing Nadir. The pink-haired man however did not drop to the ground. The momentum of the ice block carried him forwards into Bolin, sending both sprawling on the ground.

“Watch it!” Bolin growled climbing to his arms and knees.

“You watch it,” Nadir grumbled back, looking green around the gills. He tried to climb to his feet, only to kiss face with the ground again. Bolin had better luck getting up, and looked to Cid, again standing with his weapon at his side and a uneven smile on his face.

“ _ Unbelievable! Using one’s own teammate as a weapon against them. What a brilliant tactic _ .”

“ _ And an excellent show of teamwork between mr Oxford and miss Yale. Of course the whole tactic hinged on the use of intimidation and hesitation instilled in Hori, and the use of mr Oxfords radar sense semblance _ .”

“ _ Ah yes, the sixth sense allowing one to know what is around them at all times. Something I wish I had with me when engaging in battle. _ ”

“Ok,” Bolin said, glancing at Nadir who had finally climbed to his feet. “Him first.”

Nadir nodded and lifted his rifle, aiming it right at the Faunus.

Bolin charged first, Nadir following on his tail firing as he went.

On the other side of the arena the fog cloud dissipated. Reese and Setsu both rose to their feet, the skater girl holding her pistols trained on the girl in green. Taking a step back Reese smirked and opened fire. Setsu spun around backwards, the bolts of green Dust plasma missing her, and charged, throwing her weapons out to her sides like wings, the blades humming in the wind. Reese brought her pistols around, a few rounds hitting her opponent in the shoulder as Setsu got in close. Raising her arm, rising to the tips of her feet she brought it down at Reese’s head. Sparks flew as Reese got her gun up, blade meeting blade. Pushing off Setsu swung her second weapon forward, aiming at her opponent's side with the needle-like blade.

Reese jumped back out of the way and threw her weapons down, forming her board. Setsu narrowed her eyes, a silent growl, and charged forwards, swinging her sickle blades in an x in front of her.

Reese managed to get on her board and turn around, leaning forward to avoid Setsu’s attack. She zoomed off, heading to the edge of the arena before turning around. Sestu stayed where she was, dropping her weapons to her sides in the centre of the biome, watching. Reese smirked and charged picking up speed and kicking up a cloud of ice and snow behind her. Setsu waited till Reese got close, seeing what she was doing before releasing the skater girl was aiming to run her off. Setsu crossed her weapons in front of her, blocking Reese’s attack, but was pushed backwards through a large piece of ice and to the ground. Reese had been dismounted in the attack, and she charged her downed opponent grabbing her board and jumping in the air to land on her.

Setsu rolled as Reese landed, and fog began rolling off of her body filling the air in its thick cloudy embrace. Reese circled once inside the cloud before finding the edge, and began circling looking for her opponent.

The fog started expanding, soon covering the whole of the ice biome and forcing the other fighters into the other. Reese continued to monitor the cloud, pacing back and forwards in front of it craning her neck trying to peer into the thick cloud. Suddenly the centre parted, blown away from within leaving a long corridor with Setsu standing at the end against the back ‘wall’ of the cloud. Reese grinned and charged, picking up speed to run her opponent down.

Setsu didn’t move, not until the last second just before Reese hit her. She dropped, the skater-girl of Mistral sailing over her head, and brought her weapons up and fired directly into the underside of the board while the very tip of the two sickle blades grazed Reese’s legs.

Reese yelled in surprise from the pain and from suddenly having her board buck under her Reese and her board separated from each other as they entered the fog cloud, then out the other side flying over the edge of the arena. The words ‘son of a bitch’ came to mind as Reese slammed into the ground, outside the arena and out of the fight.

“ _ Oooh, a double whammy. Reese Chloris is eliminated by ring out and aura depletion!” _

Reese rolled over and looked at the scoreboard, watching her aura level fall below the red line as her picture began to flash with a red cross. Her mouth dropped in surprise, then scrunched in anger as she slammed her fist on the ground.

_ “Oh she really have worn a helmet. _ ”

“ _ Now it’s down to three on two. Who will emerge from the arena as victors? _ ”

Setsu looked up at the big screen showing the two professors and shook her head, laying down and taking a big breath for emphasis.

“ _ It would seem that miss Todai-Brown is tired, so it seems rather it is down to two on two. A bit more even fight wouldn’t you say Peter _ ?”

“ _ Indeed it is. Let’s watch. _ ”

Bolin chased after Cid, swinging his staff at the Faunus’s head body and legs. Yet Cid dodged each attack, dancing his way around the jabs and swings. With his eyes closed.

Cid growled, his face red.

“Are you even taking this serious?” he shouted, still trying to hit the Faunus. Cid stopped his dance and turned to Bolin, opening his eyes.

“My teammates are such sourpusses. I’m the only one who knows how to have fun,” he answered, catching Bolin’s staff with his pickaxe. “I’m not ,messing with ya on purpose. I’m just having fun.”

The two jumped apart, Bolin landing in a crouch his hand on the ground with his staff thrown behind him. Cid on the other hand landed on his feet standing, taking a step back to save himself from falling.

“Superhero landing!” the horse Faunus yelled as Bolin rose to his feet, raising an eyebrow in question.

“It always looks cool when someone does that,” Cid babbled as he compacted his pickaxe and put it away on his back.

“But I heard it’s impractical or something and painful on the knees.” Cid pressed a button on his weapon and the blades folded out, a loud clicking noise coming from the device. He grabbed the blades by the black crossbeam and pulled, the head of the pickaxe turning into a pair of kukri knives. Flipping them around Cid slid into a martial stance, blades facing towards his elbows.

Bolin, his face no longer red, ran at the Faunus aiming his staff at Cids legs. Cid caught the blow and punched at Bolin’s shoulder, aiming to slice across his chest. Steel bounced off of wood as Bolin pivoted his staff across his front. The two continued to trade blows, neither landing a hit on the other. Bolin’s staff defence was too quick and fluid for Cid’s knife strikes, and Cid would deflect, catch or dodge all of Bolin’s attacks, even when they were in his blindspot.

The two jumped apart again. Bolin looked to the scoreboard and saw that he and Cid were pretty even on aura at around 31%. Cid’s teammate Pacifica however was still around 60% while Nadir’s was steadily dropping.

“What the hell is that idiot doing?” Bolin shouted looking to where his teamate was last. Nadir looked back at him with pleading eyes, again trapped in a block of ice.

Bolin’s jaw dropped.

“AGAIN!” he yelled at his teammate. Nadir flinched and tried to defend himself, but he was too far away for Bolin to hear, and behind him Cid laughed. Bolin’s face turned bright red and his raise in body temperature evaporated the chill air around him.

“WHAT IS SO FUNNY!”

“Look at the ground behind you,” Cid replied pointing behind the staff-user. He turned to look. Littering the ground between him and Nadir were arrows with glowing orange heads and fletches, just like the arrow that had knocked Arslan out of the fight. Bolin looked up to his teammate, the gears turning in his head, then around the area. He could not see the Archer anywhere.

‘Why waste arrows laying them on the ground?” Bolin questioned, raising his staff. ‘What are they-’

“HAVE A NICE TRIP!” Cid yelled as he flew in and kicked Bolin in the back, knocking him over. Bolin grunted in pain as he hit the ground, right on top of three of the arrows. The staff-user  felt the arrowheads starting to heat up, so scrambled to his hands and knees looking down. The arrows heads were glowing more intensely, growing brighter and brighter as they changed from orange to white.

Bolin paled. The arrows heads were made of Demolition Dust, and he had landed on three of them.

“SON OF A BI-”

The arrows exploded, rocketing Bolin up into the air and out of the ring. The explosion also triggered the nearby arrows, starting a chain reaction leading to the trapped Nadir. The pink-haired young man struggled in vain as the explosions drew closer. He tried to scream, but the bottom half of his face was frozen.

The explosion shattered the ice as it picked up the young man. Now screaming, and threw him into the shield protecting the audience.

“ _ Wo-oh! An explosive chain reaction claims both Bolin Hori and Nadir Shiko, eliminating team ABRN and making team APCS the winners _ !”

The stadium erupted into noise, everyone cheering regardless of which team they supported. In the arena Cid picked himself up from where the explosion had thrown him and held up his arms to the crowds, a massive grin plastered on his face. Stepping up behind him Pacifica shook her head and turned to Setsu as she walked over, supporting both Alexander and Arslan.

Sitting in the crowds Blake applauded the two teams and looked to Ruby. The younger girl sat with her hands in her lap, looking sullen except the slight smile on her face.

“Both teams fought well,: she said looking to Blake. “That was fun to watch.”

Blake smiled, feeling a burden lift from her chest. She had been worried bringing Ruby to watch the fights rather than  on their scrolls would bring out the bloodlust from months ago. But it didn’t and Ruby had even smiled.

Blake felt that the Ruby she l-knew was coming back.

“Let’s get out of here,” Ruby said, standing up to leave. Blake smile dropped.

“Don’t you want to watch the rest of the fights? JNPR will be on soo-” ‘Oh,” Blake realized. ‘That made sense.’

The two joined the crowds heading to the exit, ignoring the people following them closely.

“I wonder where Yang went,” Ruby said as they stepped out of the sunlight. Blake groaned, hoping not to get another phone call from the police.

* * *

 

Junior let out a sigh of relief as Blondie left. Even during closed hours she showed up demanding information and threatening to destroy the bar if she didn’t get it. After the fourth time however they became empty threats, the fire dying in her eyes dowsed by a deep sadness.

Junior once feared her. Now, he pitied her.

The club owner sighed again. He had never felt so inclined to dig up information before. Pulling out his scroll he started dialing in some numbers, every now and then glancing at the name burnt into his bar.

Weiss Schnee.


	2. Wait, What?

Sitting in the locker room of the Amity coliseum, Jaune exhaled. His stomach was twisted and full of butterflies, his legs shaking and his palms sweaty. He felt like he was about to throw up, but that could have been the massive meal Nora had brought for the team.

Exhaling again Jaune stood and began pacing the room, running his finger over the gold trim of his new breastplate. Unlike his older one the new piece of armour covered more of his fronts and side, made of full segmented plates and edged with gold. As well he now wore only one shoulderpad, a curved piece with a thick golden top that left the top of his shoulder open. Jaune flexed his other hand, feeling and hearing the metal gauntlet and attached vambrace clink and move. As he walked the red sash tied around his waist swished and moved behind him like a cloth tail.

“I can’t do this!” Jaune shouted, dropping his hands as he looked to the roof.

“I can’t do this! What was I thinking! I’m not good enough to be in this tournament!”

Jaune sat down, head bowed.

“I can’t do this.”

“Yes you can.”

Jaune looked up as Nora sat down besides him, Ren standing off to the side, both smiling at him.

“Come on silly,” Nora murmured as she threw an arm over the knights shoulder. “You can do this. You're the best fighter in the tournament! We know it! You know it! And soon, the whole world will know it!”

“But-”

“Don’t look down on yourself,” Ren cut him off. “Nora’s right in that you are one of the best fighters I have seen. No one has fought so hard or so passionately to be here.”

“Pyrrha would have been proud of what you’ve done and how far you’ve come, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Jaune bowed his head again. They were right, of course. No one else had to fight the battles he had to be here, to be the person he was now. And Pyrrha _would_ have been proud of him and how far he’s come since the kid with aspirations of grandeur puking from the ride to the school. What hurt him the most, what pulled him back the hardest was the fact that Pyrrha wasn’t here to say those words, to express her pride in person.

She wasn’t here.

A hand gripped his shoulder, soft and strong and reassuring in its touch. Jaune reached up to touch the hand, knowing it wasn’t really there as his fingers found nothing. Nothing but the ghostly feeling. Maybe Pyrrha was still there with him, just not around a lot of the time.

“ _Team JNPR to the arena please. I repeat, team JNPR to the arena please. Thank you._ ”

Jaune sucked in a breath to calm himself and stood up, looking to his teammates with a confident smile.

“You’re right. We can do this. For Pyrrha.”

* * *

 

“ _Stepping into the ring now is team JNPR of Beacon_.”

Jaune, Ren and Nora stepped onto the platform. The knight and valkyrie with their arms up waving to the crowds. Ren stood stoically looking to the opposite team, team BRNZ of Vaccuo’s Haven academy. Standing behind him, almost hiding in his shadow the fourth member of JNPR fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.

“ _Recently team JNPR suffered the tragic loss of Pyrrha Nikos, a beloved student. Teammate and friend. Despite this the team was adamant to participate in the tournament in her honour._ ”

_“However the rules clearly state that to participate a team must have four members._ ”

“ _After much debate between the headmasters and tournament officials a ruling was made to allow team JNPR to take on a temporary member, and so were allowed to participate in the tournament for their fallen comrade._ ”

Jaune, Nora, and Ren turned to their teammate. Standing at 6’1 with a lean build Pastel had soft fair skin, shoulder length blue-grey hair and soft pastel grey eyes. One side of her face and neck was marred with small crisscrossing scars. Growing from the top of her head were a pair of fuzzy blue-grey kangaroo ears, every now and then turning to face different directions. Her feet were longer than a humans by half a foot and was slightly thinner.

The Faunus girl wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a red woolen vest, a blue plaid skirt, plain blue stockings and a pair of white sneakers designed to suit her kangaroo feet. On her back was a pastel grey seven pointed star with a love heart cut out of the center and crystal cutouts in each of the points. On her hands she wore a pair of grey elbow length gloves with three golden spiked bands with a bar connecting them running down the side.

“You’ll be fine,” Jaune smiled, giving her a thumbs up. He flashed back to him sitting in the change rooms with Ren and Nora telling him the same thing.

“Fine? She’ll, be rocking!” Nora yelled throwing up her arms for emphasis. Ren shrunk more behind Ren.

“I’ve never fought in front of a crowd this big before.” she stuttered. “And never on TV before. What if I stuff up? What if I cause you all to lose?”

“What if you make _us_ win all by yourself! With one hand tied behind your back!” Nora exclaimed. Pastel smiled shyly at her enthusiasm but shook her head.

“You could possibly do that Nora, but I couldn’t.”

“Just, pretend the crowd isn’t there Pastel,” Jaune offered. “Just pretend it's us and the other team.”

“Easier said than done,” the faunus said pointing to her ears turning every which way. “I have very good hearing.”

A buzzer sounded, Pastel jumped ‘eeping’ in surprise. Jaune couldn’t help but laugh at how cute she was. Cheeks going red the Faunus dropped her gaze and started fidgeting with the hem of her skirt as she followed the others.

“What can you make of the other team Ren?” Jaune asked as team JNPR lined up across from the other team, Nora and Ren on the sides Jaune and Pastel in the center.

“It would appear they only have a single ranged fighter,” the Lotus Ninja replied gesturing to the only girl on the other team, May Zedong. “We should be wary of her if her team-mates are close quarters specialists.”

The team leader nodded and drew his weapons. Like his armour the blonde knight had added a golden trim to his shield with a pattern towards the bottom styled after Pyrrha’s crown. His sword as well supported a fancier triple pointed crossguard and a larger pommel. Ren and Nora doing the same. Pastel rather looked around herself shyly, then took a deep breath and raised her gloved hands, adopting a boxer's stance.

“ _Now beginning the 15th round of the 40th Vytal Festival. Team JNPR of Beacon versus team BRNZ of Shade._ ”

Around the arena holographic displays appeared, flashing through different coloured icons blurring together. The four displays behind BRNZ slowed to a stop, flashing a green icon with two trees while the  four behind JNPR stopped on a white icon of a mountain being stuck by a lighting bolt from a cloud. The stadium floor around the central platform began to retract into the outer ring, a green forest and a small mountainous peak taking their place, the holographic displays vanishing as the biomes locked into place. The two teams looked at the biomes, taking not of the landscape.

“ _3_ ”

JNPR and BRNZ turned to each other, ready for the fight.

“ _2_ ”

Rainbow specks of glowing Dust started to fall from Pastel’s hands. Jaune and Ren tightened their grip on their weapons, the leather creaking. Nora just grinned like a maniac.

“ _1\. Begin!_ ”

As the buzzer sounded May turned and ran to the forest on BRNZ’s side of the arena as her teammates charged JNPR. Brawnz and Jaune were the first to clash, the BRNZ leader jumping up kicking out with his knee. The blonde knight blocked with his shield, sliding backwards. Brawnz attacked again, swinging his spiked fist at Jaune’s undefended side. Again, Jaune blocked, catching the attack this time with the edge of his sword. The knight then lashed out with his shield, landing the blow then following up with his sword, which Brawnz dodged.

Taking a step back Jaune looked to his team. Nora was swinging at Nolan Porfiro with Ren backing her up, while Pastel dodged and jabbed at Roy Stallion with the speed, skill and grace of a dancer, her hands glowing brown.

A gun went off, a rock behind Ren shattering into pieces.Pushing Brawnz back again another bullet whizzed past Jaunes head, catching his attention to the forest. In the trees he saw a glint of light, a small scrap of a black amongst the green. May playing sniper.

“Retreat!” Jaune shouted, knocking Brawnz back for a third time then turning and running for the cover of the rocks, placing his shield behind him as he ran. A bullet hit the ground at Ren’s feet as he and Nora fell back, a bullet ricocheting off of Jaune’s shield as he brought up the rear, followed by another bullet to the shield.

Jumping behind the wall of rocks the three looked back, as Pastel flipped over the wall, landing in a roll and coming up besides Nora.

“That was showing off,” Ren said with a flat tone to the kangaroo Faunus. She shrugged and looked to Jaune.

“What do we do?” she asked, her hands still glowing with brown Dust. Jaune looked over the wall to see Brawnz, Roy, and Nolan running towards them as May continued to fire on their position.

“Spread out, and try to keep moving,” the JNPR leader as Brawnz leapt over the rocks, his clawed weapons meeting Jaune’s shield. As Roy attacked  Pastel, the Faunus rolling away, Nolin walked towards Ren, holding his weapons out. Stopping Nolan looked with a knowing look and nodded. Two gunshots hit as Rens feet, the Lotus Ninja somersaulting out of the way. Just as he landed Nolan hit him across the face with his cattle prod. Ren spun from the attack, kicking out in retaliation. Nolan ducked and struck at Ren’s knee, the ninja spinning to keep hit footing. Coming at Nolan again Ren raised his weapons like a praying mantis ready to strike.

But Nolan was faster, jabbing the business end of his weapon into Ren’s chest he unleashed volts of electricity, shocking the ninja until he collapsed.

“Ren!” Nora yelled, looking from her downed childhood friend to Nolan, charging him with as swing of her hammer. Nolan ducked under the swing and jabbed his baton into her belly as she spun around for another attack. Electricity coursed through her body, but Nora didn’t react in pain. Instead she raised her head, looking directly at Nolan with a large grin on her face. Nolan felt his spine go cold.

“ _Oh-ho! Looks like one of my favorite students, Nora Valkyrie, is charging up to use her Semblance!_ ”

Nolan looked up at the big screen, a look of panic on his face. “What?”

“ _Yes, Ms. Valkyrie's Semblance lets her produce, as well as channel, electrical energy straight to her muscles! This allows her to jump explosively into the air, wield her mighty hammer, or in this case, absorb Nolan's attacks and send the young man flying!_ ”

“What!” Nolan yelled turning back to his opponent, and realizing he was still shocking her. He quickly yanked his weapon away, but the damage was done. The redhead Asgardian flexed her muscles, pink electricity coursing across her body and her hammer. Nolan took a step back and raised his hands, starting to sweat profusely. All that time she had been absorbing the electricity from his weapon, making herself stronger. That must have been around 20 seconds where she got stronger and stronger.

This was going to hurt.

Still grinning Nora disappeared in a ball of pink lightning, appearing in front of Nolan her hammer pressed to his crotch. Time seems to slow for the two of them as their eyes meet. Nolan can only watch with a horrified expression as Nora gives him a victorious grin, and hits the BRNZ redhead with the head of her weapon. The air exploded in a thunderclap and Nolan goes flying backwards, tumbling across the ground smashing through a rock and disappearing in the rubble. Brawnz and Roy turn to look at the pile of rocks where their teammate lay. Jaune heard a clap of thunder behind them and used the distraction to turn, seeing dark clouds forming at the peak of the mountain, lightning flashing within.

Jaune looked to his redhead teammate.

“Nora! Get to the mountain!” he shouted, pointing with his sword.

Nora looked up, saw the clouds, and grinned like a little kid at christmas.

“You’ve got it!” She saluted, taking off towards the mountain.

Jaune turned back as Brawnz swung at him, the knight sidestepping and looking to Ren, unsteady on his feet.

“Ren, try and distract the sniper!”

Another shot goes past Ren's head, causing him to flinch. Slouching he looks to the trees at the other end of the arena.

“Sure. Why not.”

Jaune and Pastel looked to each other, the Faunus nodding and the two charged. Growling Brawnz turned and charged at Pastel as Roy hung back, throwing his buzzsaws at Jaune. The knight raised his shield, but the spinning sheets of metal bent it, smacking Jaune in the face with his own defence.

Jaune!” Pastel called. “Are you ok?”

“You should worry about yourself.”

On instinct Pastel turned around. Something flashed before her eyes, getting closer, and she jumped backwards, putting as much distance as she could between her and whatever was coming at her. Landing in a crouch she looked up, seeing Brawnz standing over 2 metres away looking at her mouth hanging open. Standing up she squared her shoulders. Brawnz snapped his mouth shut and charged at her, closing the gap with ease. As he got closer he swung at the Faunus, but caught only air. The BRNZ leader spun around looking for her, only to be knocked to the ground by Pastel landing on him.

The crowds erupted. Pastel jumped off of Brawnz, landing again several metres away.

“ _Oh-ho. A magnificent leap from miss Williams. How high do you think she reached Barty_?”

_“I would hazard a guess that she reached the impressive height of 10 feet, or just over 3 metres. I think she has broken the record for highest jump without aide set in the coliseum._ ”

“10 feet, what the hell?” Brawnz grumbled as he got to his feet. Roy appeared at his side, glancing at his team leader. Brawnz glanced to Roy and gestured at Jaune just shaking off his daze.

“I’ll handle her,” Brawnz said running at Pastel. Roy smiled and ran towards Jaune, raising his hands ready to throw his buzzsaws.

He let one loose, it barely made a foot from his hand before Pastel landed in front of him, knocking the bronze buzzsaw aside. Roy went bug-eyed in shock and backed up, lashing out with his other hand in response. Pastel was quicker, delivering a powerful kick to brunette’s stomach. One the leaderboard Roy’s aura lost a large chunk. He himself lost his breath and was knocked backwards, away from Pastel and Jaune.

The Faunus turned to her teammate.

“Better?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he replied sheepishly. “Thanks.”

Movement behind Pastel caught Jaune’s eye. Brawnz was coming up fast going for the attack in her blindside. The blonde jumped between Pastel and Brawnz, raising his shield as his eyes began to glow a soft white.

Brawnz’s claws met Jaune’s shield again. There was an explosion of white light and Brawnz was thrown backwards, almost taking out Roy as the Brunette climbed to his feet. Jaune lowered his shield, it’s edges and detail losing their white glow.

Pastel whistled.

“That is a nice semblance.”

Jaune turned to her a smile on his face.

“Thanks.”

The two looked to Brawnz and Roy shaking themselves down. With a shared smile Pastel gestured to the two.

“After you.”

“Ladies first,” Jaune replied. Pastel’s cheeks turned red and she gave a shy laugh.

“S-such a gentleman.”

Dashing across the arena dodged sniper fire, moving almost too fast to see. He reached the edge of the forest biome and opened fire on Nolin just getting to his feet from Nora’s attack. Nolin stumbled out of the way and swung at Ren as he closed the gap. Ren ducks and deflects each of the cattle prod's attempted hits until he managed to catch it behind his pistol’s blades and double kicks his opponent. Twisting the two weapons the noirette spun his opponent around and pinned him with his own weapon, shielding Ren from the sniper.

Looking up to the tree’s Ren see’s May with her weapon trained on him and Nolin. She dropped it, but something caught her eye and she raised it again, aiming to the other side of the arena. With Nolin struggling in his grip Ren looked back, seeing Nora so close to the top of the mountain but completely exposed.

“Nora!”

Jaune heard Ren and turned around. She was so close, but too far away from him or Pastel to help. SHe was in danger and he was helpless to protect her.

Unless.

“Pastel!” the blonde yelled, the Faunus boxing Roy in the face and turning to her name.

“Up!”

Pastel shot a glance to Nora, back to Jaune, and nodded. Jumping away from Roy she landed next to Jaune slamming her fist into the ground. A shockwave of brown Dust erupted from her hand and a pillar of solid rock and Earth erupted from the ground, right beneath the blonde knight. Jaune al;most fell off the pilar as he rose into the air, just getting his shield off as he heard the gunshot.

The bullet bounced harmlessly off of his shield, saving Nora. But it threw off his balance. He fell off the pillar, falling headfirst to the hard ground.

He raised his arms, protecting his head. His aura would keep him alive, but he was still expecting a trip to the hospital.

A soft cold hand wrapped around the knight, slowing his fall and righting. Opening his eyes he found himself held in a swirling gust of wind faintly glowing of green Dust. Besides the pillar Pastel held her hands out to Jaune, spinning her hands counter to each other winds and air Dust swirling around her hands.

Putting Jaune down the faunus dropped her hands, the wind stopping, and spun kicked Brawnz’s weapon away from her, following with a powerful boxer punch to the chest. Not enough to stop him, but enough to slow him. Pastel jumped backwards again, landing besides Jaune.

“Have I mentioned I love your semblance,” he commented, getting his shield between Pastel and both of Roy’s buzzsaws. Pastel shot him a glance.

“I thought I told you, Dustmancy isn't my semblance.”

“Wha-”

A clap of thunder filled the arena, a cloud of pink flew over head forming into a giant love heart. The cloud hit the forest and exploded, reducing a large chunk of green to charred black, fire and smoke.

Everyone’s jaw dropped. Roy and Brawnz slowly looked to the mountain top. Right as Nora landed with the force of a meteor in front of them, knocking them back to the feet of May and Nolin having thrown off Ren.

Closing his mouth Jaune looked to the other team as Ren joined his. With a smile he held his sword out towards BRNZ.

“This is it, guys! Let's finish 'em with team attacks! Ren! Nora! Flower Power!”

Jaune felt pride course throw his body, imagining himself as the valiant knight leading his team into battle

“Wait, what?”

The mental image of the valiant knight shattered. Jaune lowered his sword and looked to his teammates, receiving confused looks from them.

“F-flower power.”

Ren shrugs lostly, Nora scratches her head. Pastel cross her arm and leans over to the side, looking past Jaune.

“That's your team attack name!”

“Since when?”

“Guys, we've been over this! Flower Power is Ren and Nora! Ren brings a flower, Nora brings the power!”

“Jaune,” Pastel said, trying to get his attention. The other three however ignored her.

“How do I bring a flower?” Ren asked rubbing the back of his head.

“No silly, not _a_ flower! _Flour_ , like in baking,” Nora answered with a grin.

“Why would I bring that?”

“They’re getting up.”

“I- Uh- No. It’s your symbol!”

“Soooo, what are you and Pastel?”

“I-” Jaune looked to the Faunus, and she to him. “I didn’t come up with something for us.”

“That’s ok. They’re on their feet by the way.”

“Who?”

“HEY!”

Team JNPR looked over to team BRNZ, Jaune, Ren and Nora looking confused. Pastel just shook her head.

“What do you think you’re doing!” Brawnz yelled out.

“Trying to have a team meeting, thank you very little!” Jaune yelled back, turning away from the other team.

“Yeah! Team ears only!” Nora stated, pointing to her own ears in emphasis. Jaune opened his mouth to continue, but was cut off by Brawnz yelling again.

“WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT!”

Jaune spun around in anger.

“AND WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION! WHAT DON’T YOU GET ABOUT THAT!”

Behind Jaune Nora nodded, Ren crossed his arms. Pastel pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Jaune,” she said.

“Yes Pastel?” Jaune asked in annoyance.

“He means we’re _all_ in the middle of a fight, so can we continue this later?”

Jaune blinks a few times, then looks up from team BRNZ. The crowds are in full cheer or laughter as if they were watching a comedy rather than a fight. Where they were clicked with Jaune and he put his sword to his head in exasperation.

“Nora, just… hit them with the hammer.”

The bubbly redhead looks from her team leader to the other team, an evil smirk crossing her face.

“Got it.

Nolin went white as a sheet and turned to run. May looks at him confused while Branwz and Roy both tense up.

“Wait, what?” the team leader asked. In the space of a second Nora is standing in front of team BRNZ, collecting them all with her mighty hammer and with a loud resounding thunderclap, helping the other team out of the arena and out of the fight.

A buzzer sounds, the crowd rises in pitch and on the big screen the two commentators start to nod.

“ _And with that, it appears team JNPR wins by a knockout, literally!... Can someone go and make sure they’re ok?_ ”

In the arena Nora jumps for joy, letting out a great loud whoop of joy. Jaune shakes his head in annoyance, not believing he forgot they were in the middle of a fight. Ren and Pastel walked up to him, putting their hands on his shoulder and giving the knight warm smiles

“Don’t worry,” Pastel said. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

“Enjoy yourself Jaune,” Ren added, dropping his hand. “We won, you lead us to victory.”

“You’re right,” Jaune said with a smile. “We won, but we did it together.”

Ren nodded in agreement. Pastel turned around to walk away, when something latched around her waist and lifted her in the air.

“Wha! Nora!”

“Where do you think you’re going teammate! We have to celebrate this!”

The Faunus tried to protest, asking to be let down and that she didn’t do much to help win the fight. But the redhead ignored her. Instead Nora carried Pastel out of the arena, followed by Jaune and Ren, the blonde trying not to laugh, both trying to get Pastel put down.

Stepping into the change room, the redhead finally put Pastel down. The Faunus stumbled a few steps away before turning to face the three.

“Why did you carry me out Nora? I could walk on my own.”

“Because we need to celebrate,” Nora shouted, putting her hands on her hips. “And you would have walked away and left us to celebrate alone!”

“Nora,” Pastel muttered, dropping her gaze to the floor. “I don’t want to intrude. Team JNPR should celebrate its victory.”

“See! You agree! We should celebrate!”

“That’s not- I didn’t mean-”

“Nora is right. We signed up to the tournament with you as our fourth member,” Ren stated. “So for the remainder of the tournament you are a part of team JNPR.”

“But I’m not really a part of this team. I’m just a fill-in, someone to help you enter in the tournament and get to the Doubles round.” Pastel said playing with the hem of her skirt. “Besides, I didn’t do that much to help.”

Jaune, Ren and Nora looked among themselves for a second.

“Did you forget the giant rock pillar you made?” Jaune asked. “Or when you fought off both Brawnz and Roy while I was dazed? We would have lost if not you.”

“You three could have won without me”

“You helped Jaune defend Nora from the sniper. If not for you there would have been little he could have done,” Ren stated

“Yeah! I had no way of protecting her!”

“Nora could have taken the shot.”  
“But she didn’t have to, because of you.”

“Again, I didn’t do much.”

A ravenous growl filled the room, silencing the argument. For a second everyone stood in awkward silence, before slowly breaking into laughter.

“How bout we continue this debate over lunch,” Jaune offered, heading off to one of the showers. Pastel looked to the ground and shyly nodded.

“Sounds good.”

* * *

 

“Why are we back in Beacon?” Pastel asked, looking out the window to the Aminity coliseum hovering above the fairgrounds. “There are plenty of places we could have found to eat.”

“Yeah, but the food here is free! And it tastes better,” Nora exclaimed, marching down the hall to a cheery tune.

“Plus the food offered in the school is more nutritious and offers higher calorie counts to replenish our energy levels.” Ren added.

Jaune at the head of the party nodded and rubbed his rumbling belly.

“I just hope no one starts another food fight, Nora!”

The redhead grinned and held up her hands.

“Not my fault, Tucker did it.”

A dark-skinned man passing past sneezed.

“Who’s Tucker?”

While Ren and Nora started talking about this Tucker Jaune and Pastel shared a look and pushed open the doors to the cafeteria. As the doors creaked open the team were assault by noise, loud applaud, people cheering and party streamers going off.

“CONGRATULATIONS!”

JNPR froze as the crowd of people standing semicircle around the entrance cheered for them, everyone standing under a banner bearing the words ‘Congratulations JNPR’ with each of their names.

“What the-” Jaune laughed, looking to the other three. “Did you guys know about this?”

“No.”

“No.”

“Would I look as surprised as I do if I knew Jaune.”

“It wouldn’t be a surprise to everyone if we told someone,” Coco Adel said walking up to the team. “Besides, if we told Thunderboom here, do you think it would have remained a secret.”

Everyone in the room laughed as JNPR stepped into the crowd of their friends. Pastel was pulled into a hug by her twin brother Ace with his team and two of her teammates surrounding the two. Ren bowed to Yatsuhashi and Velvet and started a polite conversation, whereas Nora loudly retold the fight with extravagant arm gestures to Coco, Cid and Fox. Jaune was pulled into a handshake by Cardin Winchester, the rest of team CRDL patting the blonde on the back and offering more congratulations.

“That was awesome Jauney boy,” the former bully said. “But I hope you don’t get paired with us tomorrow. We’re going for the championship, and nothing’s gonna stop us.”

“Brave talk Cardin,” Jaune grinned back. “Let’s see you back it up tomorrow.”

Cardin and his team laughed, Russell patting Jaune on the back again. The crowd shifted and moved to one of the tables, piled high with food and drink. Everyone tucked in, but not as much as Pastel and Nora. Jaune laughed with everyone else at their gusto and took a step towards the food when someone standing off to the side of the crowd caught his eye. All the joy and mirth drained from him, his smile turned to a frown and his eyes sad.

With a sigh he stepped from the crowd, walking up to Blake trying his best to keep his features calm. The noirette of team RWBY on the other hand was looking everywhere but him, holding one of her arms nervously.

“Hey, Blake.”

“Hi Jaune,” Blake said softly, trying to look him in the face. “You, fought well today. Congratulations on the victory.”  
“Thank you.”

The conversation fell silent between the two, awkwardly so. Jaune could never get much of one out of Blake before the incident as people were politely putting it. Since then everything between him and Blake, the entire team really, were strained. Looking for anything to make it less awkward he looked around.

“Where’s Yang?”

“I,” Blake started, dropping her gaze further to the floor. “I don’t know.”  
Jaune felt a pain in his chest.

“How is she?”

“I don’t know. When she’s around she’s asleep.”  
Jaune felt another spike of pain. No matter how he felt about Ruby Jaune felt sorry for Yang and Blake. First the incident, now Weiss’s disappearance, the two were suffering. And Jaune couldn’t do a thing to help.

“We’ll find her. Yang or Ozpin or her family. Someone has to know where she is.”

Blake nodded.

“I know.”

The conversation died again, becoming awkward. Again Jaune looked around for something to pick it up, but Blake beat him to it.

“I should go. Enjoy your victory Jaune, and good luck for tomorrow.”

“Thanks. I hope, everything, gets better for you,” the blonde smiled sadly. The Faunus nodded, gave him a smile, and walked away. Jaune watched her go. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves and quiet the spikes of pain in his chest he turned and joined the crowd, soon being swallowed by the cheer and mirth once again, despite the niggling at the back of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again.
> 
> Not much to say for this chapter note. So here's the next chapter. I didn't include the tournament bracket like I said I would becuase I remembered the chapter I had planned next and it made more sense to put it at the end of that.
> 
> And that's it. Thanks for reading.
> 
> Lord Tomyh


	3. I'm sorry

Staring out the window at the grand academy, Winter Schnee could only feel hatred for the place. The headmaster prided himself on the school and its students. Yet he had let his city suffer from severe crime and terrorist actions, come under attack from the Grimm. Let two of his students, the ‘children’ he prided himself on protecting and nurturing, be killed by a psychopath.

And worst of all, the worst of the acts Beacons headmaster had failed to prevent of recovery. Her sister, her only family she felt close to, the only person she loved was missing. Kidnapped from this very academy.

Staring at the window, Winter could only feel hatred for the academy. Strong enough she lashed out at Ironwood for making her come here. He could have asked anyone to bring the extra shipment of weapons and scientific equipment, but he had adamantly insisted she deliver them herself.

“Ma’am.”

Winter looked from the window to the soldier standing at attention.

“We’ll be landing in five minutes ma’am.”

“Thank you,” winter curtly replied, turning back to the window. ‘ _Let’s get this over with. The sooner I’m away from here. The better_.’

* * *

 

Leading a squad of Atlesian Knights Winter marched down the main avenue, Beacon Academy towering before her. Winter ignored the school, yet her scowl for the building remained. Instead, the specialist operative looked at each and every student she passed, sizing them up trying to figure out if they knew what happened to her precious sister.

The sound of crunching metal and breaking machinery behind her made Winter stop in her tracks and turn around. Standing over the destroyed rearmost knights, his posture, stance, and colour of his face screaming intoxicated was Qrow, Fucking, Branwell.

Winters scowl deepened. The second person she detested the most, showing up in the second place she loathed. Of fucking course.

“Hey,” he smirked, tossing away the decapitated head of one of the knights. “Yeah, I’m, talking to you Ice Queen.”

The remaining knights raised their rifles and began to advance on the man. With a gesture of her hand, she commanded them to halt. They would do no good against him, and she didn’t want to waste Atlas money or tech on trying. Qrow continued to smile as he took a step towards her.

“Saw your gaudy ship in town. I guess you’re here too.”

“I’m standing right in front of you!” She yelled, more forcefully than she meant. Qrow blinked and took a step back, not expecting the angry response.

“You realize you just destroyed Atlas property! I know you enjoy wasting your own lien Qrow, but don’t waste my kingdoms!”

Qrow looked down at the machines broken at his feet and feigned an apologetically shocked face, covering his mouth for further insult. Winter’s hands curled into fists, how she longed to run this man through right now.

“Oh, oh I’m sorry. See, I mistook this for some sort of… _sentient_ garbage.”

It took all of Winter’s will and composure to restrain herself from drawing her weapon.

“Don’t push me Qrow. I have neither the time for your immaturity nor the tolerance I normally hold for you.”

At this Qrow stood a little straighter. “Oh. Does the ice queen have her panties in a twist?”

Winter closed her eyes and focused her breathing through her nose. Turning away from the infuriating man she gestured for the Knights to fall and started making her way to the school.

“What, you leaving already. And I thought we were having fun. But it makes sense for a coward and a sellout to turn their back. Just like you’re boss”

Winter stopped dead in her tracks, the air around her dropping in temperature. Robotic in motion she turned to face Qrow again, her face unreadable. The master scythe-wielder smiled from getting a rise out of her.

“I heald ol’ Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin. But don’t worry, Atlas will prote-”

With a flash of silver Winter’s sword was in hand flying straight at Qrow’s head. The scythe-wielder stumbled backwards out of the way of the attack, a look of shock on his face. Quickly losing the shocked expression and his intoxicated stance he drew his sword, knocking aside Winter’s follow-up swing. The Special Operative was beyond furious, lost in her rage. All of her anguish, pain and raw anger poured out of her, intent on taking Qrow’s head. The scythe-wielder bit back a curse and ducked backwards, finding himself strangely on the defensive back foot. He wasn’t expecting this. He was expecting the hot-headed, arrogant Atlas attitude. Not a white-haired beserker trying to kill him.

Further and further Qrow fell back, students fleeing in fear of the two, namely Winter. Qrow knew he was in some serious shit. All the times he had crossed swords with Winter before they had a sort of rival squabble, trying to one-up each other. Now, he was going to have to put some effort in if he wanted to stay alive.

Pushing back the special operative held his sword behind him and activated its shift mechanisms. The gears started to turn, the sword breaking apart and extending, curving around at the handle extended the now curved blade into his signature scythe; as good as he was with a sword Qrow was _the_ master scythe wielder. Winter in response pressed a button on the hilt of her sabre and caught the dueling dagger as it flew from the weapon. Again Winter charged in a flash of silver steel. Qrow effortlessly deflected her swings, keeping her at a distance. In truth he was worried and only partially focusing on Winter. A crowd of students had gathered to watch, albeit giving the two a very large area to fight in.  For all his cockiness and assurance the scythe-wielder could handle the fight, he knew when he and Winter went full out, there tended to be a large area of destruction left behind.

Which meant he had to somehow contain the raging operative, no small feat, especially if she started with her semblance. Or he had to defeat her, and quickly. And as much as he hated to admit, neither of them have ever managed to win a fight, hence the collateral damage.

“Shit,” Qrow muttered, pushing aside Winter’s swords he got in close, grabbing her arm to keep her there.

“Look I know I started it, but you need to calm the fuck down! There are students around and neither of us wants to see anyone hurt!”

Winter didn’t say anything. She tried to get her arm out of his grasp, and failing that tried to stab him in the ribs. Muttering a curse he took a step back to dodge, then took a step forwards to pin her weapon between his and her leg.

“Listen! I’m sorry I riled you up! I don’t know what’s got you in a state, but I’m sorry! I didn’t know.”

“No, you didn’t think Qrow's!” Winter spat back, trying to get free of him and his nauseating smell. “You never think of anyone besides yourself, and then never even the consequences of your actions or how your actions affect others!”

Now Qrow’s face darkened, his eyes hardened. He let go of Winter’s arm as she pulled back, making her stumbling away, but then put his weapon away.

“Don’t assume you know me Ice Queen,” he said coldly. “Maybe I’m right to treat you the way I do.”

Winter scowled again and took a step forward, raising her weapons to strike.

“Schnee!”

The word, the voice, the tone, slammed into Winter. Immediately she jumped and turned, for the first time seeing the frightened yet amazed students encircling her and Qrow, and the man marching down the Grand Parade towards her.

“What is that meaning of this?” General Ironwood asked, looking at her with hard irritated eyes. Winter’s face fell. She opened her mouth, trying to find the words to explain. What, that she had lost her temper, that she had lost her sense of surroundings.

“It’s my fault, Jimmy.”

Winter and Ironwood looked to Qrow, standing with his arms out like he had been caught red-handed but didn’t care.

“You know how I am when I meet up with her. I love riling her up till there’s a fight.”

“Yes, I do know,” Ironwood replied with a frustrated sigh as he looked back to Winter. “Still she should not have engaged you.”

“And you know how she is Jimmy,” Qrow swaggered up to the pair. “Loyal to a fault. I may have said some unkind words about you.”

Ironwood looked to Qrow raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t you always,” the general said turning away. Qrow and Winter stayed where they were, neither looking at the other. Winter still radiated anger and hatred, but know her face was red with shame and an anger to herself.

“I know I like to rile you up,” Qrow said softly, again not looking at her. “But, I am sorry I did this time.”

Winter didn’t say anything. She went to but caught herself. With a pointed look at the ground, she stormed off after the General, ignoring Ozpin and Glynda on the way past. As the headmistress broke up the crowds Ozpin walked over to Qrow, shaking his head softly.

“What did you get yourself into this time.”

The scythe-wielder shoot a look at Winter and sighed.

“I honestly don’t know.”

* * *

 

Stepping out of the elevator Qrow felt the heated gazes falling on him. Winter had stopped pacing as the doors opened while Ironwood was leaning against Ozpin’s desk.

“What were you thinking Qrow?” Ironwood asked harshly. “We haven't heard from you for weeks, and you show up now and pull this?”

“ _You_ haven't heard from me Jimmy for weeks,” Qrow corrected, pulling out his scroll. “I’ve been in contact with Oz several times now. And by the way, communication is a two-way street. Or did you forget how to dial a number?”

Winter snarled, hand going for her sword. All eyes turned to her, the General reaching out to stop her drawing her weapon.

“That is enough Winter,” Ironwood said, letting go of her wrist. “Don’t let him get you riled up any further.”

Winter turned her furious gaze to her commander.

“How can I not sir! He insulted me! He insulted you! He insulted my kingdom! Do you truly expect me to just take that!”

“You’re a specialist officer of Atlas,” Glynda commented. “You’re suppose to set an example for the students of your kingdom, not lose your head.”

“And what about him!” Winter gestured to Qrow. “He’s a teacher! Yet he constantly destroys Atlas property and takes every moment to instigate fights with personal, especially me.”

“That still does not excuse you attacking him.”

“He was drunk!”

“He’s always drunk!”

Everyone looked to Qrow standing there, arms crossed. Peeking from his pocket they could see the top of his flask, surprisingly not in his hand. Giving a small smile the scythe-wielder held up his hands.

“Look, I don’t want to start another fight or rile you up anymore? But what was that? Normally you’re just irritated at me. That was, well, berserk. And that’s not you.”

“Is Qrow complementing Winter?” Glynda asked taken aback. Ozpin and Ironwood looked to each other with similar expressions. Qrow shot the headmistress a glare and looked back to Winter.

“I’m serious. What’s changed?”

The mood of the room already tense fell. Ozpin and Glynda looked down at the ground with looks of guilt and regret. Ironwood looked to Winter, helplessness and uncertainty flashing across his usual confident face. Winter, Winter flashed a cycle several emotions. Furious anger, drowning depression and anguish, blistering hatred, painful self-loathing. Qrow wanted to wrap her in his arms, tall her everything was going to be ok and let her breakdown, express and scream and cry her pain and anger away. But he knew he wasn’t the person to do that, even if he wanted to help.

“Qrow,” Ozpin said with a hesitant pause. “Do you know the of missing student we have?

Qrow stiffened and dropped his gaze to the floor.

“Yeah, I do. I’ve done some looking, between missions. So far I haven't found anything.

Winter’s attention leaped to him, hope rising in her chest, tempered only by fear. Qrow, the man who would tease her, would rile her up and push all her buttons every time he could, was looking for her sister. Vale’s better Huntsman. But he hadn’t found anything. _He_ hadn’t found her.

“The student is-

“Weiss Schnee, I remember,” Qrow said looking to Winter. “I’m sorry. With my missions, teaching and my own family, I had forgotten that she was your sister. I’d forgotten you had a sister. You don’t talk about your family that often.

“I don’t talk about my family to _you_ Qrow,” Winter said softly, looking away from him. Why on Remnant would I want to do that.”

The scythe-master gave a small smirk and shrugged. Winter closed her eyes and sighed; again such a casual answer lacking in all respect. How did his superiors deal with him? How did anyone deal with him? Still, he was apologetic for the first time, and he actually looked and sounded somber that he hadn’t found her sister.

“Still. Thank you for looking for her, even with all of your current work and your own family to deal with.”

Qrow dropped his gaze to the ground and started fingering the cap of his flask.

“I lost my niece and got her back recently. I can understand what you’re going through. Course I’m gonna do my best to find your sister.”

A soft smile touched her lips. For all of their disagreements and strained working relation, Winter knew once Qrow said he was going to do something he didn’t stop until he’d done it. Maybe, just maybe, she’d misjudged him. Maybe he had a shred of a heart and a thought for others to him.

“Remind me. How did miss Schee go missing?” Ironwood asked. Winter stiffened, the crunching of her teeth loud enough for everyone to hear as she turned to face her commander. Qrow scoffed and shook his head.

“Jeez, for the head of security you sure don’t remember much.”

“We are not entirely sure.” Ozpin said leaning his hands on his desk. “That night Miss Ruby Rose, one of Qrow’s niece, was returned to her team, that is the last Glynda and I saw Miss Schnee. The next day Miss Belladonna and miss Xiao-Long came to me and said that miss Schnee was missing when they woke up and that she was not answering her scroll. The door was locked with no record of it being opened during the night. The window however was found open when miss Belladonna swore it had been closed before they retired.”

“And since then nothing.” the scythe-wielder added. “No leads, no ransoms. Nothing. It’s like the girl just up and went in a puff of smoke.”

Winter gave him a hard look and stepped up next to Ironwood. “My father has reported that neither he nor the Schnee Dust Company has received any messages or ransoms on Weiss’s location or condition.”

“Even the bounty doesn’t seem to get us anything, though I doubt anyone would be willing to turn down 10 billion lien for information.”

“Which means whoever has her is not interested in money,” Ozpin frowned. Everyone in the room glowered. Qrow reached for his flask.

“What about the White Fang?” Ironwood asked. “It’s well known they hate the Schnee family more than any human”

Ozpin sighed and shook his head. “It’s been two months since she disappeared. I’m sure the White Fang would have announced they have the heiress of the Schnee Family by now.”

“Yes, well, who knows what those terrorist are thinking. I still think they have a hand in this.”

“Except all their actions before now don’t support capturing and holding a member of the Schnee family for this long without some form of announcement,” Glynda added her tone tense.

“Even gloating. If I had captured some important member of a family I hated, I’d be bragging to anyone who would listen” Qrow said, stepping up next to Ironwood. The general and Winter shot glares at the scythe-master, the special operative even more so when he offered her his flask.

“And everyone like you listening in Qrow?” Ozpin smirked. Qrow chuckled back, stepping back from the two Atlesians.

“While I don’t put this sort of action past them,” the Headmaster stood up. “I still doubt the White Fang are behind the kidnapping, simply because it is unlikely for them to sit quietly on such a feat. There must be another group or individual who has reasons to kidnap Miss Schnee and keep it quiet. And I intend to find out who they are, and why. Heaven's help anyone who hurt my students anymore.”

Three of the four other occupants of the room raised an eyebrow at the headmaster, all sharing a knowing look. Winter noticed the look and shot her commander a questioning glance. She knew that the general had been talking with Ozpin more than usual, but she just thought it was about the tournament and the situation with the White Fang. But their looks, the expressions and glances in their eyes told her something else was abound between the four. Letting out a sigh Winter dropped the thought; she doubted any of them would tell her if something was going on, although she felt a pang of hurt that Ironwood was keeping something from her.

“Sir,” the special operative said loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “May I be dismissed?”

Ironwood gave her a puzzled look and turned to face her.

“Reason?” he asked.

Winter sighed again. “My actions today and this conversation have left me rather tired, and drained sir. I wish to retire.”

Ironwood considered the request, shooting a glowering glare at Qrow before turning back to Winter.

“Very well. We’ll discuss what happened, as well as the shipment you’ve brought, later.”

Winter nodded and saluted, saying “Understood sir,” before turning and stepping out of the room. As the elevator doors closed Ironwood shot Qrow another glowering glare. The scythe-wielder shrugged in response.

“Hey, I said I was sorry.”

“To Winter. I still don’t appreciate you antagonizing and fighting my operatives.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna be waiting a long time for that apology,” Qrow smirked turning to face Ozpin and Glynda. Ironwood muttered a curse under his breath, while the headmaster and headmistress let out a sigh of frustration at their usual banter.

“Now, Qrow,” Ozpin said. “Why are you here?”

“Few reasons. One, I heard my nieces are still going through hell, so I came to help them out since Taiyang’s still wrapped up in schoolwork. Second is reporting in my lack of info on Ice Queen the second.”

Glynda let out another sigh of frustration and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Must you call her that. Miss Schnee has a name, perhaps use it in the future.”

Qrow shot her a glance and a smirk, before looking back to Ozpin and turning his face serious again. “Thirdly, I came to help with our little problem. Since Jimmy’s marching his tin armies into Vale I figured you all could use a more discreet element.”

“I’m only protecting the people of Vale,” Ironwood said sternly and loudly, shooting Qrow once again a glowering look. “When they look up at my ships they feel safe and secure. And our enemies will see our strength and be wary.”

Qrow scoffed and shook his head. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Trust me they’re not trembling in fear when they see your tin men and fancy ships. What they’ve got out there, their armies. That’s scary, that’s terrifying.”

Ironwood took a step into Qrow’s personal space, slamming a fist on Ozpin’s desk. The headmaster held up his hands to try to defuse the two, then looks to Qrow. “What can you tell us of their army?”

With a taunting raise of the eyebrow to the Atlesian general, Qrow took a step back from the desk and crossed his arms. “Grimm are massing, everything from beowolves to Nevermores. Heard there’s even a herd of Goliaths out there.”

 

“Bartholomew did report he saw a herd of them near Mountain Glenn.” the headmistress added with a worried look. The three men shared the expression. Goliaths were one of the hardest Grimm to fight and kill as an individual. A herd was nigh impossible for anything less than a legion of skilled and veteran Huntsman and Huntresses.

“Good thing the fuckers are too big for the tunnels, otherwise the Breach would have been a whole lot worse,” Qrow said, taking a drink from his flask. Ironwood glared at Ozpin’s desk as if it had offended him

“And thank Dust that it wasn’t.”

“That’s not the worse of it though,” Qrow said, putting away his flask. “You’re little infiltrator. She’s the one that attacked Amber”

“What?”

“No

“Oh yeah. The witch and her monkeys are here. Somewhere in Vale. Hell, maybe even in Beacon, the resourceful buggers.”

Ironwood scoffed, even puffed out his chest. “I doubt they could have infiltrated the school. I’m sure we would have found them out.”

The scythe-master looked to him in cynical disbelief. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed Jimmy, but there’s been a lot of people coming into the school, what with the students, the extra staff Oz and Glynda’s had to hire on. Plus all your tin men.”

“Still, I’m confident that we would have located anyone in this school who shouldn’t belong.”

“Though,” Ozpin said slowly. “It would not hurt to introduce some subtle searches, just to be sure. Nothing to alarm to students, but something that will ensure we don’t have anymore infiltrators and intruders.

Ironwood hmmped and slid his arms behind his back. “I’ll have my men start searching the school.

Qrow scoffed and shook his head. “Remember what I said about discrete element, Jimmy? You don’t have it, and you definitely ain’t it.”

“I have to agree,” Ozpin said, stopping Ironwood from retorting. “While you and your men are skilled in espionage and information gathering James, no one comes close to Qrow. And at the moment he’s the only one who’s seen our enemies.”

Ironwood opened his mouth to argue the point, to argue against Qrow. But he couldn’t, Ozpin was right, so he closed his mouth with a loud snap. Qrow laughed and went to say something, but stopped with a look from Ozpin.

“Fine,” Ironwood grumbled. “Qrow can search the school.”

“Aww, don’t worry Jimmy. You can still help?”

“And how can I still help, Qrow?”

“You and your tin man can do what you always do and demand attention, distracting everyone away from me.”

* * *

 

“A hearty well done to the future Huntsman and Huntresses for their victories today. And a hearty well done to everyone who participated. For this tournament is not about who wins and who loses. It’s about comradeship, forging bonds between the four kingdoms and showing the world that our future is in safe and comfortable hands.”

“And on that note, we bid you Remnant, goodnight. I am Bartholomew Oobleck.”

“And I am Peter Port, wishing you all a happy Vytal festival”

The cameras went dead. The two professors turned in their chairs and both let out tired sighs.

“I had forgotten how hard commentating the matches can be hard work,” Port said, leaning back.

“Indeed. It does not appear to be as hard as it is,” Oobleck agreed pulling out his thermos and offering it to his friend. Port took it and raised it in a toast before taking a long drink. With a loud sigh of relief the grey-haired professor handed the thermos back to Oobleck, who quickly emptied the container.

“The future is indeed in capable hands,” Port said looking back to the empty arena. “All of the students fought admirably.”

“Indeed. I would even argue that they fought harder than we did during our time in the arena.”

“Aah, a grand fight that was.”

The two began to chuckle as they reminisce, missing a black chess queen flashing on the screens.

“So, Barty. What can you expect from tomorrow’s games?” Port asked as he stood and stretched.

“Magnificent battles, hard-fought victories and more forging of close bonds and comradeship.” The two professors started to laugh, Port pushing Oobleck for the jest.

“But I wonder what the students will be getting up to tonight.”

“Oh? What do you mean?”

“I overheard some of the students talking with Glynda yesterday morning about using some of the school's money for something tonight. I, however, didn’t catch what for.”

“Hmmm, what do you think it is?”

“My guess. A group of young people on the cusp of full-adulthood, asking for money for something on the eve of the first day of the Vytal Festival tournament. Someone is planning a celebration.”


	4. A Small Stumbling Step Forward

Ruby sat on Weiss's bed, her bed, looking at her scroll with hitched breath. The words in the message were so simple, jovial and upbeat, and not directed at her individually. Yet the message made her tremble with fear.

 _< To celebrate the first day of the Vytal Festival Tournament a party is being held for all students of the four kingdoms tonight in the city of Vale. The dress code is smart-casual or loose formal. We look to see you there_.>

An invitation to a party. Ruby had been invited to a party. With other students, other people. The people she fought, the people she tried to kill. JNPR.

The door swung open. Ruby screamed and jumped backward landing in the corner of her bed dusted in rose petals. Yang stood frozen in the doorway on high alert for danger to her baby sister. Seeing the door empty she relaxed and closed the door.

"It's ok Ruby. It's just me."

"Sorry," the younger sister mumbled drawing her knees up to her chest. "I was thinking of something."

"That woman?" Yang asked sitting down on Weiss'- Ruby's bed. Despite extensive searches of the Forever Falls fueled by Weiss' disappearance the woman that tended and twisted Ruby into the Student Killer had yet to be found. Most nights since her return Ruby had suffered nightmares of killing her friends, her family, and everyone at Beacon while the woman sang her perverted lullaby.

"No," Ruby shook her head.

"The Silver Woman?"

When Ruby had her nightmares she always dreamed of a silver silhouette of a woman. The woman would tell Ruby she was dreaming, that she was in a nightmare, and Ruby would wake up. When Ruby didn't have nightmares she noticed her dreams had a lot of silver-coloured objects in them.

"No," she shook her head again.

Yang dropped her gaze, trying to think what her sister was thinking about. Spotting Ruby's scroll on the bed, the invitation still open, she understood.

"You don't have to go Rubes," Yang offered.

"Just," Ruby hid her face. "Why would anyone invite me? After what I did?"

"You know most of the school doesn't know about that." And if Yang got her hands on whoever had spread the rumor her baby sister was the Student Killer they had better pray she's in a good mood.

"It's not that," Ruby mumbled. "I'm afraid. What if I panic and I hurt someone? What if I kill someone? And they'll be there. I don't want to ruin their night."

So this was about JNR and CRDL. Yang sighed. In the months since Ruby's return, the other two teams had not quite avoided them, but not been around team RWBY. The team itself made it easier, with Ruby hiding in their room when not in class or facing Ozpin and her other evaluators. Yang spent every available moment between class and sleep looking for Wiess, while Blake was often caring for Ruby, becoming almost like her shadow.

Every now and then RWBY would pass the other teams in the halls of the dining hall. Yang and Blake would share a few words. Ruby would try to hide behind her teammates looking at the ground trying not to make a sound.

"Again Ruby, you don't have to go."

The door open as in stepped Blake, scroll in hand. A look of surprise crossed her face as she saw Yang, but it quickly passed.

"Apparently there's a party tonight-"

"We know. I was just telling Ruby she doesn't have to go."

"I think she should."

The sisters looked up in shock, the younger pushing herself further into the corner while the older rose to her feet.

"Excuse me?"

"I think it'll be good for her"

"She terrified!"

"And she'll continue to be terrified if she keeps hiding."  
"So you want to throw her in the deep end?"

"She was fine at the Coliseum."

"You took her to the coliseum?" Yang's eyes flashed dangerously as her hair began to smolder.

"And she was fine! You'd know that if you were there!"

As the partners got into another argument Ruby shrank further into the corner. Team RWBY was falling apart. Blake was right Ruby was terrified to leave the room, to face her teachers, the other students. She was terrified to live.

Blake and Yang, hardly a word they said these days wasn't an argument. Every moment they were either ignoring each other, communicating in grunts and glares, or at each other's throats. To Yang, Blake wasn't doing enough to find Weiss, no one was. To Blake, Yang spent too much time pointless doing the same things and not getting any closer to finding the heiress while her sister was slipping further into isolation and depression. The entire team was suffering in class, falling down the ranks in terms of academia and combat, yet nothing was being done to fix it. To fix anything.

Ruby knew things needed to change, that she needed to change to help her team. But, how.

Lifting her head she looked at her robotic hand, so cold and stiff, feeling like her arm was numb every moment of her life yet having an even sharper sense of touch.

"How can I fix my team when I'm the one who broke it?"

She felt someone sit down next to her, yet the bed didn't move or shift. A soft warm hand rubbed her shoulder, yet Ruby knew that if she looked no one would be there. With a shuddering breath, Ruby dropped her hand and looked anyway.

"I'm scared, Pyrrha. I'm scared to [move]. I still hear her in my head. That, witches song haunts me like you. Only, it doesn't help me. And, why do you sit here and listen to me? Why do you try to comfort me? I killed you" Ruby whispered, a tear leaking from her good eye. She had killed Pyrrha, her friend. Now she was haunted by her ghost. Yet Pyrrha didn't harm Ruby or remind her of her actions and her choices. All she could do was whisper in her ear or give the sensation of touch or feeling. And Pyrrha used this to help her killer, to comfort Ruby.

Why.

The ghostly figure wrapped its arms around Ruby and pulled her into an embrace. Ruby opened her eyes, expecting to see the bronze and leather armor and red cloth skirt. But, of course, there was nothing there, not even a second indent in the bed. Like the nightmares and the Silver Woman since her return Ruby in her lowest darkest moments had felt like she was not alone. Mostly it was soft warm sensations of touch, embraces, and rubs of the back and shoulders. Several times Ruby had felt something, someone, grab her or step into her arms and legs and freeze them stiff as cement. Someone had stopped Ruby from stepping off the roof of the dorms, or drive a knife into her wrist or chest.

"Why?" Ruby asked. "Why save me. Alive, I'm only causing pain and misery. Blake and Yang always argue, Jaune, Nora, Ren. They're all sad and hurting because of me. You're dead, because of me. So why are you helping me Pyrrha?"

"So many times Ruby had asked that question, only to not get an answer. Every time the ghostly figure would sit silently to the question, sometimes retreating sometimes it's touches would grow warmer.

Sometimes, the ghost would simply do nothing. As it did now.

Ruby sighed and sat upright, pushing off the embrace. She looked at her scroll, the invitation still open. Blake and Yang continued to argue, thought they had moved to the other side of the room away from Ruby. They were yelling though in the small room, so it didn't matter where they stood.

Ruby dropped her gaze.

"I want, to go. But, I'm scared."

The ghost shifted on the bed.

"I'm afraid, I'll hurt someone. I'll kill someone."

The ghost lay a hand on Ruby's shoulder. Her mind filled with images. Crescent Rose taken away from her. Her medical charts and status about her health. She couldn't hurt anyone.

The images changed. Ruby sitting in the library watching team JNPR laughing with Pastel and Ace and their third-year teams, a smile on the young girl's face as tears ran. Ruby sitting outside watching CRDL train with SSSN and CVFY as Blake referred, Yang at her side cheering. Ruby crying in Weiss's bed when she heard the heiress was missing and she was made to stay behind due to her restrictions set by Ozpin.

The ghost removed its hand. Ruby wouldn't hurt her friends or the people they cared about. She wasn't that person anymore.

Ruby hid her face in her arms. Besides touch, the ghost didn't communicate often. Very rarely did it speak, often showing images, thoughts and expressions to get its message across.

"If I go, team JNPR and CRDL and everyone will worry, and they'll be afraid. And they won't have fun."

The ghost took Ruby's shoulder again. People filled her mind. Ren and Nora, CRDL, SSSN, CVFY, SEWN, ALTN, PTFM. Her friends, now afraid. Her bullies, now victims. People that she barely knew, that she fought, she tried to kill.

" _I miss Ruby_."

Ruby's eyes shot open. Nora had said that.

" _I hope Blake's teammate is ok. She looked really down yesterday_."

SSSN's team leader, she thinks his name was Sun. She had never met him before, only seen him talk with Blake. No, that's not right. He had found her once, alone, and tried to talk with her,m tried to make her laugh. He tried to cheer her up.

" _I saw Shortcake earlier. She was smiling._ "

" _You mean miss Rose? Well, that's good. I hope she's recovering_."

The sniper and trident-user she had fought in the Forever Forest. They were, happy for her?

More and more people filled Ruby's head. Worried about her, hoping that she was ok that she was getting better. People sharing happy moments and memories, wishing she was there with them.

Tears began to flow. Ruby was missed. They weren't afraid of her. They missed her. They hoped she'd get better.

The ghost removed its hand, the images and voices in Ruby's head fading, leaving behind a warm sensation in Ruby's chest. The feeling of sun and laughter, of cold and shared tears. Ruby felt, afraid. But she also felt, and a will a drive to face what she was afraid of.

"A road, the fork at your feet," a voice as calm as a winter's day, yet with a thunder of stampeding horses and as sharp as a bowstring strung, whispered in Ruby's ear. "Forget everything and run. Or face everything, and rise."

This time the smile that touched Ruby's lips was hers. Wiping her tears Ruby looked up and closed her eyes. In her mind, she saw Pyrrha sitting before her a smile on her face. Pyrrha, the ghost, puts its hands on her shoulders and lay a kiss on the young girl's head.

"And remember. The weight you bear stays with you, but it is the fear of carrying it that stays your feet. Never forget, but never stop moving forward."

And then she, it, the unseen presence, was gone. Only the faintest sensation of touch and the smells of wood, smoke, oil, and feathers marked it had ever been there. Ruby opened her eyes and sighed in content

 _Never forget, but never stop moving forward_.

"You need to stop keeping her locked away! She's not a child!"

"And you're not her sister! You can't make decisions in her life!"

Ruby got off of her bed and walked to her teammates, stepping between the two.

"I'll, go to the party," she declared with a shaking voice. Blake and Yang both recoiled back a step, jaws dropping.

"I've done some thinking. And, Blake's right. I need to stop hiding, I need to get out and, learn to be around people again. I need to keep moving forward."

Blake blinked and a smile spread slowly across her face. Yang, a smile in her eyes, raised an eyebrow in question

"What happened to be afraid?"

A memory of the soft gentle voice whispered in Ruby's ear, bringing a smile to her face.

"I'm still afraid. But fear has two meanings. Forget everything and run. Or face everything, and rise."

Ruby looked her teammates in the eye.

"I still have a long way to go. And, I'm still afraid," she declared her voice shaking. "But, I am not going to run anymore. I'm a huntress-in-training. I don't run, I don't retreat. I advance, in an opposite direction."

Yang and Blake looked to each other and smiled. The first genuine smile either had had in a long time.

"Well," Yang said looking to her sister. "Let's find you something to wear.

Ruby's face fell.

"I've changed my mind."

"Nope!"

* * *

Across town, a grizzled older man looked up.

"What's up sir?" his companion asked.

"I don't know where, and I don't know why. But someone just decided to do something, and now I feel proud."

The second man raised an eyebrow and looked around, not feeling anything. He looked to the older man.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone.  
> Sorry for the short chapter, but I could not find a way to tack on anything else after the end. Not with the shift from RWBY to 'random peoples' to another point of View.
> 
> I always worry that I don't write tense, emotional or psychological chapters and passages well, so please if you see anything wrong, or it doesn't seem to fit or flow naturally or properly please let me know. I'm flip-flopping over whether or not this is a good fic and considering starting again or continuing it. So please tell me where I'm going wrong and where I'm doing right.
> 
> See you in the next chapter.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> LordTomyh


	5. Notice of Ending

**Hey, everyone.**

**So, I'm not happy with the way I've written this story. I've ended up hating how I started it despite loving the chapter, I felt like I was rushing Ruby's development and I picked the absolute worst time to have a party in the story. So I've figured that a fresh start would be better.**

**I'm going to leave this version of the story up with a (1) in the title to differentiate between the two versions. the First chapter is already up, so please check it out.**

**Thank you all for reading, favourite, and reviewing.**

**See you in the next story.**

**Thanks.**

**Lord Tomyh**

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again.
> 
> I'm sorry if people are waiting for the second chapter of A Tale of Two Shepards, especially as it's so short and nothing really happens. But the program I was using to record the game as I played stopped working, and since their isn't a good version of both conversation tree's online, I'm waiting.
> 
> ANYWAY. here is the first chapter of the second installment of my RWBY Bloodied Series. The Stained Festival (Literally did not have a title until writing this note). I'm sorry that it is largely my fan team APCS, but I wanted it to start out with a fight, and they will be important later on. So once again, I'm sorry for that.
> 
> Anyways. Hope you enjoy. Please leave questions, comments and concerns. And I will see you, in the next chapter (My friend is still in love with Markipler).
> 
> Bye bye.
> 
> LordTomyh


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